Air Tax
by AkematLynn
Summary: Tied in with the first chapter of 'You Have No Idea' this is the first of several stories involving a love triangle between Jimmy, Pete, and Gary. City Hall has imposed extremely high taxes on the Town of Bullworth making everything almost unaffordable. Jimmy steals a sketchbook for Pete to surprise him with it. This story is full of fluff...Sort of...


Authors Note: This story is the first in a set involving the love triangle between Jimmy, Pete, and Gary. It is also tied in with the first chapter in 'You Have No Idea' which focused on Gary. This story will be very soft and fluffy, you have been warned!

Title: Air Tax

"_What_ are they going to tax next, the air!?"

As sick and tired as Jimmy was of hearing about it he had to admit, the new tax laws city hall had imposed on the town had gotten way out of hand! Hurrying along down the street on his way back to the school campus he found himself experiencing bouts of paranoia here and there. He kept telling himself to just relax and move along as he passed numerous townsfolk; they didn't know what he had done, did they? No of course they didn't, and besides who were any of them to judge, chances were each and every single one of them had been the perpetrator in a recent stint of shoplifting as well.

With the new sales tax now at 50% of the base price even the preps were starting to feel the burn. That had been evident when Gord Vendrome of all people had been caught trying to steal an Aquaberry scarf earlier that week, and who could blame him, had city hall lost their damn minds!? Continuing on his way he clutched the black sketchbook closer to his body under his coat. The cold winter air was relentless as it blew sleet into his exposed face causing his nose, cheeks, and the tips of his ears to sting in discomfort. Despite the fact that he was in the clear Jimmy couldn't help but to replay the recent shoplifting event over and over again in his mind.

He had entered the store casually and greeted the shopkeeper to help make himself seem less suspicious, he didn't go straight to the sketchbook even though he knew exactly where it was. He simply browsed the other shelves as if contemplating what to buy, all the while he could feel the shopkeeper's eyes on him but made certain not to turn around and look at the man. He wasn't nervous at all and despite his mile long rap sheet of bad behavior, shoplifting had yet to be added.

After a few moments of false looking he slowly wandered over to the shelves where the sketchbook was located and stared at it for a moment before picking it up. He flipped it over pretending to be interested in the price and even though he already knew how much it cost the sight of the actual price still caused his eyes to widen. $40.00 for a typical 8X11 sketchpad!? Still staring at the book he was pulled out of his glare at the price as a commotion on the other side of the store grabbed his attention.

"YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR THAT!" The shopkeeper yelled at a familiar dark haired boy,

"Pay for what!? I don't have anything!" Constantinios yelled back at the man before making an unsuccessful attempt to dash around him, but the man stopped him grabbing him by the coat he wore and a physical scuffle ensued. Absolutely stunned by the unprecedented amount of luck he was having and seizing his golden opportunity; Jimmy hurriedly tucked the sketchbook under his coat and quickly made his way out the door. He didn't run as to not draw attention to himself but made sure he kept up at a mild pace inwardly praising himself once he rounded the corner away from where the shop had been located.

Snapping back to reality he had now arrived at the school gate and wasted no time in getting into the boys dorm and out of the cold air. He burst through the two double doors and went straight past his own room and down the hall to Pete's room. He stopped once he reached the boys door and stood there for a moment. Eventually he raised his fist to knock gently at the door, but the weak old wood combined with his natural heavy handedness caused him to end up nearly banging the fragile structure down. A short while later and the door was opened as a happy Pete beckoned him to come inside. Entering the room Jimmy quickly closed the door behind him before turning to face the small boy and cocking a sideways grin at him.

"What is it?" Pete asked, curious at Jimmy's behavior.

"Got something for ya!" Jimmy replied cheerily before pulling the black sketchbook out from underneath his coat and holding it out to Pete. The small boy's eyes widened at the object he was being presented with, he looked up at Jimmy and then back down at the book repeating the action several times.

"You mean you got me….." Was all Pete managed to stutter out. Jimmy smiled at him as it was obvious the boy was both excited and in disbelief.

"Well go on take it, it's yours!" Jimmy informed him.

Pete hesitantly grabbed the book with slightly shaky hands, he flipped it around a couple of times to examine it as if he thought it may be some kind of a joke before bringing his gaze back up to Jimmy.

"Jimmy thank you so much, you didn't have to do this and I know it was expensive!"

Jimmy cracked another smile at Pete's sincerity. Without warning and without thinking the small boy lunged at him clinging to him in a tight embrace to express his gratitude for the gift. Jimmy wrapped one of his strong arms around the smaller boy giving him a light squeeze and happy that he had made Pete happy. The blissful moment was brief as it ended abruptly when Pete suddenly realized what he was doing, embarrassed by his own behavior and thinking that he may have angered Jimmy he went to pull away and prepared to apologize to him.

However, Jimmy not at all bothered by the gesture held on to him a moment longer not allowing Pete to pull away as quickly as he had intended to. Realizing that Jimmy was holding on to him Pete looked up at the older male a bit surprised by his behavior. Using his free arm Jimmy reached down and gently grabbed Pete's hand that held the sketchbook. Pete felt his cheeks turn a faint shade of pink at the gesture and wondered if Jimmy was at all aware of how the position they were in must have looked.

"Promise me you'll take good care of this, it cost me a pretty penny." Jimmy remarked.

Finishing this sentence Jimmy felt a small hint of guilt build up inside of him, that last statement had been a boldface lie. True the sketchbook most certainly was expensive with the high ass taxes bringing the total price of it to roughly 60 dollars, but fact of the matter was he hadn't spent a single cent on it.

'_**You stole it!' **_

A voice reminded him in the back of his mind. Quickly pushing the though away Jimmy returned his focus back to Pete,

"Don't worry I'll take good care of it, I promise" Pete assured the older male. With that being said Jimmy released him and took a step back.

"Alright Pete enjoy, I'll stop by to check on you later but don't hesitate to come and find me if you need anything."

For a brief moment Pete's face flinched in a twinge of what appeared to be pain, Jimmy wasn't surprised to see that happen as it made perfect sense, but still he had to double check and make sure he was okay.

"Will you be okay here by yourself?" Jimmy asked after a moment.

Pete looked genuinely surprised by the question; it was obvious that he hadn't expected Jimmy to ask him anything like that.

"Y…yeah sure… I'll be fine…" There was a blatant strain in his voice and Jimmy found himself not wanting to leave him there alone.

"Are you sure?" Jimmy questioned him a second time, hoping that he would come clean and tell him the truth. The truth being that he wasn't okay and that deep down inside he was still hurting. Even though Jimmy already knew this he didn't want to force it out of the boy… yet! He had no problem getting dominate with him and forcing him to open up to him but he wanted to give the boy a chance to confide in him on his own merit.

"…"Yeah… I'm sure…" Pete informed him hesitantly. Jimmy stared at him for a moment longer before he said anything else.

"Alright then," Jimmy told him as he turned to go a little disappointed that the boy had decided not to at least talk to him.

"I'll see you later!"

Pete smiled and waved goodbye as Jimmy left his room.

Pulling Pete's door closed behind him Jimmy inwardly cringed a bit as the wave of guilt he had suppressed earlier immediately began to rear its ugly head.

'_**You lied to him Jimmy!' **_

Came the annoying voice again, far more clear and louder than it had been before. This time however Jimmy didn't try to ignore or suppress it but instead he acknowledged it. It was true, he had lied to Pete about how he had gotten the book, but he had to. He had to do something to make the boy happy, to show him that he could be good to him. Had he have told him the truth then Pete wouldn't have wanted the book he wouldn't have accepted a stolen item.

Stopping in the middle of the empty hall he turned to look back at Pete's now closed door, a frown slowly etched its way across his face. Sure Pete was happy but he wasn't, he felt guilty for lying to the boy, which was something that he had told himself he wouldn't do because that was what Gary had done to him when he was with him, he had lied to him.

Gary had now been gone for a while and Pete despite being treated poorly by the sociopath had been devastated when he had been sent away to Happy Volts Asylum. Mere months later and Jimmy had received news that Gary would be released in the spring and more than likely returning to Bullworth. Hearing this Jimmy instantly decided that he had do any and everything possible to make sure Pete didn't go back to Gary once he returned. Protecting him and the sketchbook had been just pawns in his own plan to keep Pete for himself. As a result of his decision each passing day had become a bit stressful for him and the tax laws had only made things worse. At first he hadn't really cared but every time he tried to do something for Pete the taxes had put a damper on his plan. Now they had put a damper on his conscious as well, it made him feel like he had an expensive tax imposed on his nerves, and it was a tax he didn't have the heart to try and boycott. Continuing down the hall and displeased with the series of events that had just taken place he voiced his thoughts out loud,

"What _are _they going to tax next, the air!?"


End file.
